Radial aircraft engine



Sept. 2, 1947. -A. v. DfwlLLGoos ETAL RADIAL AIRCRAFT `ENGINE Filed oct. 2o, 1944 v 5 sheets-sheet 1 I n veaors Hadrew K0.

Sept 2,1947. A. v. D. WILLGoos TAL 2,426,877

RADIAL AIRCRAFT ENGINE Filed oet. 2o, 1942s '5 sheets-sheet 2 Sept. 2, 1947. A. v.. D. WILLG'oos l-:TAL v 2,426,877

RADIAL AIRCRAFT ENGINE Filed oct. 2o, 1944 A. v. D. wlLLGoos 'ETA-L Sept. 2,9194?.

RADIAL AIRCRAFT ENGINE Filed oct. 2o, 1944 5 sheets-sheet 4 SePf- 2, 1.947. A.- v. D. WILLGoos l-:TAL 2,426,877

RAD IAL AIRCRAFT ENGI NE Filed Oct. 20, 1944 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Y tion between a crankcase Patented Sept. 2, 1947;i

Andrew V. D. Willgoos West Hartford, Conn.,

andAxel L. Highberg', assignors to United Aircraft Corporation, East Hartford, Conn., a corporation of Delaware Application October 20, 1944, Serial No. 559,636 1o claims. (c1. 12s-55) This invention relates to craft engines.

multi-row radial air- An object of this invention is to provide im-V provements in crankcase structure for aircraft engines.

A further object of thisinvention is to provide a novel and improved structure adapted for mounting a one-piecev crankshaft and for mount*1 ing and driving mechanism such as valve cam rings and related crankcase mechanism in the crankcase of a multi-row radial aircraft engine, particularly a four-row radial engine having seven cylinders in each row.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the specification and claims, and from the accompanying drawing which illustrates what is now considered tobe a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a side View of an aircraft engine, with some parts omitted in order to simplify the drawing, incorporating crankcase mechanism constructedraccording to this invention.

Figs. 2 and 4 are enlarged views which together in the order named, represent a longitudinal section through the crankcase portion of the engine of Fig. 1. Certain parts have been omitted or displaced from their true position in order to simplify the drawing.

Fig. 3 is a partial section showing the connecmain scavenge oil line.

Fig. 5 is a transverse of Fig. 2.

section on the line 5-5 Fig. 6 is a partial transverse section taken immediately in front of the first crankcase partition, looking toward the front, showing thetorquemeter booster pump.

Fig. 7 is a transverse View, partially broken away, taken immediately in back of the center crankcase partition, looking toward the front showing the crankshaft supporting means and cam and scavenge pump drives. j

Aircraft engines must be reliable in operation, yet compact, lightweight, and easy to assemble and maintain. According to this invention these requirements are met and other advantages are provided for the mechanism within the crank-` case by a novel constructional combination and arrangement of crankcase parts including the crankshaft supporting means and the valve -cam ring supporting and driving means.

Referring to-the drawing, Fig. 1 illustrates an aircooled engine having twenty-eight cylinders arranged in four circumferential rows and seven scavenge pump and thel spiral banks. Reference is made to Hobbs- Willgoos application, Serial No. 552,372 for a detailed description of thisiengine as a whole.

The main crankcase 34 consists of five integral machined aluminum alloy forgings |24, |26, |28, |30 and |32, which are ,secured together on transverse parting lines |42 with bolts |34. The three intermediate sections have large bores |36 (Figs.

2, 4 and 7) which' areiitted with steel liners |31. Magnesium alloy crankshaft bearing supports or disks |38 tremovably within the liners |37, which are shrunk to form a permanent t in the three intermediatecrankcase partitions |62 at all engine operating temperatures. The two end crankcase sectionshave integral partitions |63 extending thevfull distance inwardly to the front and rear main bearings 28. I

Twenty-eight cylinder mounting pads |40 are spaced around the outside-of the live crankcase .sections in four rows of seven pads (Figs. 1 and 7). l'I'he center line of each row is located at theparting face |42 between two adjacent sections), ,Studs (not shown) are provided on the crrankcaserto hold eachcylinder 2|5 in place on its mounting pad |461 so that ,the cylinder may bevmounted in either of two opposed positions. Thus the cooling airflow may be maintained in the same direction of .flow relative to the cylinders even though it be reversed in direction relative to the crankcase, so that either a pusher or tractor engine may be made from the same cylinder'and crankcase parts, as disclosed and claimed in the Willgoos application Serial No. 444,033 (Patent No. 2,401,211).

The valve mechanism is of the overhead rocker box puppet-valve type utilizing one intake and one exhaust valve in eachV cylinder and having intake and exhaust rocker arms |55, |51 and push rods 8|, 83 actuated by fifty-six valve tappets reciprocating in tappet guides |44 symrnetrically spaced around the outside of the five sections, in circular rows at the front and rear of each of the. Tappet vguides |44 are of aluminum alloy shrunk into holes |41, |49 in the crankcase sections. There are four rows of holes |47 for theexhaust valve tappet guides and four rows of holes |49 for the intake valve tappetguides (Fig. 1) with two ,rowsy of interpositionedexhaust and intake tappet guide holes between each twov adjacent cylinder rows.vr Tappets |46 reciprocate within their guides |44 inthe conventional manner and are providedvvwith rollers |48 which run on the intake earnV tracks |54 and tracks V|56 on the cam rings |56.

rows of cylinder mounting pads.

the exhaust cam v The five cams |50 are preferably identical, each having an internal annular gear |52 and external intake and exhaust tracks |54, |55 of three lobes each. Each cam is mounted on an aluminum alloy bearing ring which lits onto a shelf |60 machined in the front wall of the partitions |62, |63 ofthe corresporiding section of the crankcase. Each cam is driven inthe opposite direction to crankshaft rotation at V6 crankshaft speed by the crankshaft through two cam reduction pinions |64 mounted on upper and lower pinion shafts |66 rotatably supported in the end partitions |63 and in the disks F30?. Cam reduction gears |60 are spliii'ed-l to the rear of the pinion shafts on the opposite' sidesf 'of the corresponding crankcase partitions. Each pair of upper and lower cam reduction gears Hi8l mesh with a separate cam drive gear |10, |1| mounted on the crankshaft 58. The front four cam' drive gears |10 are split and bolted to the crankshaft to form continuous gears while the rear cam drive gear |1'| is of one-piece construction and is splined to 'thel crankshaft.

Crankshaft '582 is supported within -crankcase 34v by ve steel backedsleevebearings- 200 hav-V ing silver and specially' processed leadl `onl` their inside surface. The center mailnb'earing is hanged for locating thev shaft asiallyand transmitting thrust tothe crankcase.V The iront 'and rear bearings are ot one-'piece construetion,l 'and are pressed and pinned Yilntocentral bores-iin the partitions |563 ofV the corresponding crankcase sections |24, |32.-V 'Ifhefrozlitintern-'le'diate;V Vcenter, andA rear intermediate 'main bea-ringsare split along` their horizontal centerv lines and are held securely central-bores; |133 the bearing supportdisks |385, 'vvlieldare'ealhl split to form two segments-having flat keys |539A between their parting facesa `Th`esekeys have projections Yfitti-ngivv-itl'iirl 'slol's- |`f4 segmental plates- 2|0j (Fig. 70 bolted tta-'opposite sides of the partitions F52; tei'prevent theVdfisks-"fromturning, and the .beai-n'gfs201i?are lbcked' against case they expand more than do the bores |35 as the engine temperature rises a hundred or more degrees to the operating temperature range, thus providing the equivalent of a shrink t between the disks |38 and partitions |62 and liners |31 during engine operation, thereby providing additional means for locking the disk to the crankcase-When the stresses are greatest. Yet at room temperature the parts may be readily assembled by placing the crankshaft journal |80 in the bearing- 208 of the rear crankcase section |32, assemblngthe master rod 2|3 and link rods 95 Ourthe rear crankpin |12', assembling the main bearing hal-ves,V disk halves, and keys around the erafhkshaftfjomnalf |82, bolting the disk halves 'ogether with they four bolts 2|2, sliding the erankcas-e section |30, with its liner |31, over the disk assembly, placing the cam ring |50 on thev` bearing |5| on the shelf |60, and bolting the rotation relative' to 'the disks; lby tliesn'rall keys |43, fitted between the disk 'ha-Ives, Plat-Es 2|0' extendradially Vpast-lille"pa ng lines between the disksvl vand the rakcase' pa ons to* pre=r ventV aidaldisplacement of the' dlsks; In Figs'.

2 and 4, theA upper port-,lorisofv thecen-ter and:

rear disks F30i havefb'ee displaced `from their normal -'position order tio-increx clearly-show this construetionl vThe two halves ofi each ,diskv are bolted together with th -tfwd '|"30`and the key |43 therebetween by bolts 2|?, Bowel bushings 2450 (Fig. '7 )5 one atfefacl'ij sidejo'the corresponding mainbearing; t into' recesses Yin each'off' the two diskP halves and serve to`-`aligrr the disk halves andi plates Thus, yeach cankcase partition |62 Y plates 2|0, keys |39,- disk |38; bearing'jliliand key |43'constitut'e aifterf assembly; arigidwall which 'retainsl andsupports thejcrankshaf'tjcn the intermediate.ijiu'rna-lsv |02, llf, |06.'v The front andrear journalsf'l, |001 aremounted inl bearingsfsupp'orted' by' the integral 'partition walls-|63. y l

The three@ ilkhat bearihs'sppiort disks |38 are` made of magnesium allo'ylhaving a' higher coeflicient of "thermali expansion' 'than machined to: an outerdiaineter providingfa sliding'V fit betweenfthe rdisks ,and thejlinersl |315 at roomtemperature; buljbe'cause theyV have: a

higher coeicient ofexpansion than "the rcrank-'- retaining plates 2|0 to the partition |62 to Ylock the disk assembly to; the'- cran-kcase. The two front plates 2|0 have radial proiejctions' 251 whichY lit against anannular shoulder on the interior ofi the'- carn-` ring' to' holdit in place on' the bearing |5I. This same process is repeated for the succeeding two crankcase sections* |28, |26vandl'then the fvrmnt section: P2@ with its bearing 2.08' is placedover the front crankshaft journal. ma.. mustn@ cranksnsftmeybe made off one-piece 'construction 'andi each' crainkca-se sech tionzn'ay be" madeone-piece'v circumferentiallyf, or circumferent'ially integral, and'yet the partsirriay be easily assembled te fbrml a very' strong and light crankcase andlfcrankshaft construction.

each diskr |33. The` disks areang-ularlyposi tioned relative to the crankcase by"tlfief pro"jec' tions on keys |30 which t withi-nsl'otsfll- 'in the plates 2|`0 and2 thusthe cam drive" gears are also located in a predetermined n'anner relative'te lin-'ei 'rings 'v50'- shatters-remediate cam drive'gv-aisllm on the-crankshaft( Tl'edisk assemblies arie identical (with the exception that thef inner" portion of 'the' 'cei'iterA disk isjsha'ped to fit wi 'thev crankshaft loca-ting langes Vonf' op-f positieV des;` 'of' the center crankshaft journal ,and the disks are singularly displaced with respect to each other by an ainount' corresponding; tbl the-A differences: i`nvallvetiininfg'j of the' re'- spe'ctive' cylindr rows resulting'romfthe s'lziira'll displacementof the cylinderbanks.A 'Thel rela-Y tive disk locationsf are determi-ned in the con*- struction shown simply by predeterminingjthe positional? the-plates 25|`0"andltheslots |4'|',;Wlich locate "the p'l'atesi |39; 'By supporting the cam drive shafts |266- inthe disk halves the diameter' of the cam rings |50 and: of the gears 1564', |560 maylemadfe' afnini'mum-, thusv providing a coni pact'co'nstruction: 'Y l Crankshaft 58? i's a; one-pie'ce machined-steel forging which isY c'arefully*loalefice'd-l It has four crankpins |12, |14, |"`|'H; `|7|3,'an`t1ve hianjilirf na-14s'A |801, F825, |3813; WB, l f andL betweeh tlie crank'pi'ns; l'lhe center journal" h'asfiiagedi Aends 1200i, 102i, whichv locatie thef shaft' axially and"V transmit thrust throughth'ecenter bearing" and" its? disk supportI `v '|3 andA partition I6? t'of 'theY crankc'ase; Four" count'ervv'eightsi are used; two- @resem ifea, nur being 4lojeaieafdiseems opposite the rearv cra"nkpi'r, jiri4 the;Y plane` o' "the: colfespondmg -CaDktmlFWL .AThQ'QthTWQCQUn wrwishe 151852,09; .are alsmpeawdoppo'sirethe andf rearjcrankpins, respectively; but are "ang'ularly' loffsetV from thev plane-of'the""corre= sponding crankthrow by an angle of 222. VThe extreme front and rear counterweights may be pivotallyfsuspended, on the crankshaft to form torsional. vibration dampers. Cam drive gears |10 are supported on anges adjacent each main bearing. The front of the crankshaftl is provided with splines`202 for driving the reduction gear R. The rear of the crankshaft is provided with a quill |13 attached in the rear journal of the crankshaft. and which has external splines |04 thereon fordriving a hydraulic damper 20B. Quill |73 aso provides a support and drive for the rear cam drive gear Ill. Reference is made to application Serial No. 552,370 filed September 1, 1944, for a more detailed description of the crankshaft.

The crankpins are connected to forged aluminum alloy pistons 8l in corresponding cylinder rows by an articulated connecting rod system including master rods, three of Which are shown at 207, 2|l and 2| 3, having their big ends journalled on the crankpins and'on which link rods 95 are pivoted at 93.

Each of the twenty-eight cylinder assemblies, which are identical, comprise an alloy steel barrel 2M, an aluminum alloy cooling muff 2|6 shrunk 'on the barrel, and-an aluminum alloy head 85 having a fiat top l5 and opposed rocker boxes 2 I 3, 220 projecting laterally therefrom in the general direction of the cooling airflow. The head and muff abut and are machined to form cooling ns extending continuously from the bottom of the muif to the flat top l5 of the head 85. Each n lies in -a plane normal to the cylinder axis and parallel to the direction of cooling airow and the intake rocker boxes 220 are positioned symmetrically opposite the exhaust rocker boxes ZIB so that each cylinder may be operatively mounted in either of two directly opposed positions on the same crankcase. Thus the intake and exhaust rocker boxes may be interchanged by rotating each cylinder through 180, enabling either a pusher or a tractor type engine to be assembled from the same cylinder and crankcase parts, except for the cam rings |50 which have their lobes at diiferent locations for the two engine types.

Most of the lubrication details have been omitted in order to simplify the drawing. In general, oil is supplied from a tank (not shown) by a pump (not shown) to the ltop crankcase pressure line |011. The pressure oil is fed to the interior of the push rods, and through them to the rocker boxes, by ring manifolds |01, connected to line |04 and to each tappet. Torquemeter booster pump 82 (Fig. 6) which is driven by gear |69 (Fig. 5) olf the top front cam drive gear |68 is .also connected toand supplied from line |04. rihis pump may be used to supply oil under high pressure to a torquemeter associated with the reduction gear R in the magneto section 32, or for other purposes.

Drain oil from at least some of the rocker Vboxes is returned to the crankcase through the push rod cover tubes |75. This oil and crankcase drain oil is scavenged by a separate pump |I, of the internal external gear type, in each of the four crankcase chambers. Each pump is driven off the lower cam drive gear |68 by a gear 99 (Figs. 5, '7) These pumps each pick up crankcase drain oil through inlets @l and discharge into the main scavenge oil line |03, which has its outlet end connected with the oil tank. Thus each crankcase chamber is efficiently scavenged regardless of the flight attitude of the aircraft, by a series -1. Inan aircraft engine, a multi-throw one piece crankshaft, a plurality of one piece crankcase sectionscoaxially secured together on transverse parting faces, and a crankshaft supporting disk mounted in-each of said sections midway between the parting faces thereof, each of said disks having a relatively large outer periphery engaging a crankcase section and having a relatively small centralopening for receiving a crankshaft journal, the maximum radius of said opening being .smaller than the maximum radius of the crankthrows on said crankshaft.

2. The combination of claim 1, in which said disks are split and are mounted in partitions integral with said crankcase sections.

3. Means 'for rotatably supporting a multithrow engine crankshaft in an engine crankcasev comprising, a wall portion 'in said crankcase having an opening therein, and a crankshaft supporting member having a sliding t in said opening at room temperatures, said member having a coefficient of thermal expansion which is sufciently greater than the coeflicient of thermal expansion of said wall portion to provide a tight t between said member and said wall portion at engine operating temperatures.

4. In a radial engine having a multi-throw crankshaft, a crankcase having an internal partition member, an opening in said partition member which is suiiiciently large to enable said crankshaft to be passed therethrough, and a split disk mounted in said opening, said disk having a coeflicient of thermal expansion greater than that of said partition member and having a peripheral surface forming a sliding fit with said partition member at room temperature and a tight fit with said partition member at engine operating temperatures, said disk having a centralopening of small diameter in relation to the outside diameter of said disk adapted to receive and support a journal portion of said crankshaft.

5. In a radial engine, a crankcase having a partition therein integral therewith, a main bearing supporting disk removably mounted in said partition, said disk having an openng therein for receiving a bearing sleeve for said crankshaft, said opening being of relatively small diameter as compared to the outer diameter of said disk, said disk having a coecient of thermal expansion which is greater than the coefficient of thermal expansion of said partition.

6. In a radial engine, a plurality of one piece sections adapted to be securedtogether on transverse parting faces to form a crankcase which is circumferentially integral and longitudinally secy radial 'dimensions than said crankshaft throwslfor receiving a crankshaft 'main bearing,;said`mem bers being of Ygreater radial dimensions than said crankshaft throws, vand .having :coe'ioientsV of thermal expansion 'greater1 than .that ffof. .the

crankcase.

7. A crankshaft supportzandcam drive mechanism for a radiarenginecomprising, a.' crankcase section, a partitionrin seid crankcase section, a bearing surface on said partition, avcam ring mounted on said surface, disk removablyvmounted in an opening V in said partition; zanxopening Vin said diskv for receiving aerankShatjoumaLLand atleast one drive shaftmounted Yon saiddisk and having gears thereon respectively meshing with gearson said cam ringandsaid crankshaft.

8. In an internalfcombustionengiinehaving a crankcase; a; crankshaft having: a plurality-fof main journals, partitions in saidicrankcase provided-with apertures fof sufficient size for; said crankshaft to-pass, therethrough, a split :collar member in each aperture' securedto the respective partition and substantially filling the space between the walls of the; aperture and the respective main journal, and4 at;v |least one valve ca1n1driveshaft carriedpby each collarand driven Aloy'said crankshaft.

9. The combination .of claim Linoluding means associated With-atleastone of said disksfor resisting axial movementsof said crankshaft.

Y 1D. The combination of claimk '7, including means connected with said disk for locating said 5', diskina predetermined position angularly with Theffollowing references are of record Vin the file ofthisv patent:

UNITEDSTATES PATENTS y15:'Nu1'nloer Name Date 1,355,451 Carpenter Oot. 12, 1920 2,209,013 Barkej July'23, v1940 1,8353-38 Bowman Dec. 8, 1931 1,999,374 Pavleeka Apr. 30, 1935 20. 2154359 `sarazin Apr. 11, 1939 IiORJIGN' PATENTS Number Country Date V14973592 England 1938 538,779 England 1941 320,879 England 1929 826,107 France Mar,23, 1938 i 

